


Stories Grim as Pistol Lead

by raven_aorla



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Canon-Typical Disturbing Imagery, Character Parallels, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Jon Attempting a Romantic Gesture, Lack of Mechs Knowledge Okay, M/M, Song Lyrics, The Mechanisms as Slaughter Avatars, episode 184 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_aorla/pseuds/raven_aorla
Summary: While trudging through a slice of Slaughter that borders on the Stranger, Jon takes Martin to a concert that's not as gruesome as Grifter's Bone. It's a relatively nice respite from their perspective. Relatively. The disturbing part is how familiar some of these Mechanisms are.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46





	Stories Grim as Pistol Lead

**Author's Note:**

> Character/song guide in the end notes. I only changed one word out of all the lyrics included in the fic. You can probably guess which one.

“Please tell me this isn’t about to be a Grifter’s Bone performance,” Martin said as he followed Jon to a table at the back of what appeared to be some sort of eldritch cabaret seating area. The table and two chairs helpfully materialized as they approached, and didn’t come with the barbed wire that was wrapped around all the tearful, whimpering “patrons” and digging into their bodies, though they were allowed enough range of motion to take sips from the drinks set before them on rusty tables. The lighting was low and intimate. The walls were sweating red droplets.

“No, it’ll be less chaotic than Grifter’s Bone. This band sings about violence and tragedy in a way that sounds different to each listener and is calibrated to cause them the most distress possible. Because they can’t hurt us, we’ll only hear something ominous but in some ways whimsical. No personal attacks. Nothing that will truly bite, not really. You’re right that this is a mostly Slaughter domain, but it’s another Fear Soup situation. Particularly the Stranger.” Jon put down his backpack, took a seat, and gestured at the stage where the band were discussing killing one another in amiable voices “I’d like to watch a bit, if you don’t mind. The chairs are fairly comfortable without the barbed wire.”

Martin was glad to sit in a chair that was behaving like a normal chair, that was true. He held hands with Jon under the table and ignored the two brimming glasses of what smelled like alcohol and motor oil. There were seven performers, in brown and black and red with an excess of belts, leather cuffs, and other extravagant fancy-dress that felt vaguely piratical. The keyboardist had metal wings. The guitarist was either wearing goggles or had mechanical eyes, the violinist’s left arm was also mechanical, and the drummer’s entire face was full of rivets. The viola player had silvery veins visible from under the skin, veins that pulsed and writhed. The mandolin player was the most Strange in appearance, dressed like an old-fashioned toy soldier with a texture to their (its?) face like a shiny coat of paint. The drawn-on mustache didn't humanize the look.

The swaying figure holding the microphone close like they were planning to take a bite was splattered with blood and grime. They flashed a feral grin as he gave Jon a sardonic salute, then started to sing what could have almost been a friendly greeting by Slaughter standards.

_Like whiskey laced with gasoline, we’ll get you stinking drunk_  
_So shut your face and settle down, you sneering little punks_  
_For space is vast and you are small, it’s black and bitter cold_  
_The book is lying open. There are tales to be told._  
_The fires are burning lower and the stars are shining bright_  
_We’ve stories grim as pistol lead to tell to you tonight_  
_So grab yourself a mug of beer, gin or vodka, hold it near_  
_The book is lying open. There are tales to be told._  
_So mind your manners, Archivist, we’ve seen beyond the stars_  
_And if you care to prove it we can show you all the scars_  
_We know the void is screaming mad, no happy endings out there, lad_  
_The book is lying open. There are tales to be told._

“What fear do they represent?” Martin whispered. The music itself was energetic and folksy, something Martin could actually enjoy if he stopped worrying about the words.

“That violence endured by you and people you care about is meaningless in the long run and entertaining to others,” Jon whispered back. Ah, another of those...esoteric ones.

As the introduction flowed into various jaunty tunes about patricide, infanticide, genocide, cannibalism, and a very dark retelling of nursery rhymes, Martin noticed that the performers’ faces were changing. The pianist, violinist, viola player, and mandolin player started to resemble specific people in other domains whom Martin had attempted but failed to interact with. They seemed just as cheerful as the musicians had originally. The mandolin player specifically looked like a Stranger domain victim, with a voice during solos that sounded uncomfortably like Nikola’s. Martin had never heard Nikola in person but had listened to her on tape during Jon’s coma. He’d never expected that voice to be belting out a war anthem to the tune of the Tetris game theme.

_The bitter old king and his sick regime_  
_Have pushed us all beyond the edge_  
_We’re brutal and cruel as we battle his rule_  
_For we learned from the tyrant’s tutelage_  
_Now’s our chance, choke down your pain_  
_We can end this bastard’s reign._  
_The battle line’s drawn_  
_All hope forlorn_  
_Prepare your souls_  
_There’s no happy ending in sight for us_

Then the guitarist took the microphone to lead a song. Something about trying to kill a monarch and innumerable enemies while rampaging desperately through tunnels. By the time he got halfway through...

_We’ll suck the ragged eyeballs from the sockets of their skulls_  
_Their existence is a mad disease, there needs to be a cull_  
_Upon their rancid soldier-flesh our bayonets will dull_  
_And their blood will run like wine!_

...Martin saw the face of Jordan Kennedy, but a gleeful one full of twisted joy in others' suffering. Exactly what the real version was afraid was going to happen to him.

A song or two later, the bass player had a chance to sing lead, in a song about people wishing to be granted merciful death.

_You come here on your knees_  
_Begging for my release_  
_But I warn you it ain’t that easy_  
_In your mind, in your mind_  
_The horrors are too entwined_  
_The only peace you will find_  
_Is in the refuge you yourself designed_

The amused indifference was coming from Basira’s voice, the musician now looking and sounding exactly like her in every way except mannerisms.

The lead singer was the last to change for Martin. It didn’t happen until the music became slower, softer, downright tender.

_Elysian Fields roll out before me_  
_Sunlight dapples through the leaves_  
_And plays among the oak tree_  
_As I wait for my release_  
_Lying here amongst the flowers_  
_I can rest my weary bones_  
_In the earth with my beloved_  
_I will find my final home…_

Jon. That was Jon up there, singing about how much he wanted to simply lie down and die next to the one he loved. Martin wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and asked quietly if they could leave now.

“Did you know what I saw?” Martin asked Jon once they were out in direct view of the Eye again, walking towards some less tuneful horror.

“I know what much of the audience saw and heard, but I couldn’t have picked up yours without breaking my promise not to Know things about you. Are you alright? I’m sorry if that was a bad choice. It seemed like a fairly harmless place to rest. Maybe even...maybe even the closest thing to a normal date we could manage under the circumstances.” Jon sounded crestfallen.

The words filled Martin with warmth. What an adorable man. “It was! Even if we couldn't avoid having some people suffering around us, it was almost nice. The music was good, too. But did their faces change for you? To people you know?”

“They were taking the form of the people we had most recently felt compassion for on a personal level, rather than abstractly. All the better to mock our feelings. The guitarist started to look like…”

“Jordan Kennedy?”

“Right.” Jon looked like he was expecting Martin to scold him again for what Jon had done to Jordan, but Martin had since cooled off and gained perspective on the terrible dilemma Jon had been forced into.

“I assume the lead singer didn’t look like you from your perspective. I didn’t see _myself_ up there, after all.”

Jon sighed, then made the slight smile he used for when he was about to attempt to lighten the tension. “Would you like it if I dressed like that?”

“I could do without the gore, but I suppose it was dashing in its own way.” Martin gave Jon a peck on the cheek, and Jon chuckled.

(He caught Jon quietly singing one of the less grim bits later, voice soft and rich. That made it all worth it.)

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon that Martin felt sorry for Basira having to kill Daisy, but didn’t feel sorry for Daisy herself. He never really got to know the post-Buried Daisy who was Jon’s friend, so for him Daisy = cop who threatened him, nearly killed Jon multiple times, then went on a rampage that may have started out with good intentions but literally went to hell.
> 
> Mechanisms songs quoted here, all of which can be found on YouTube with lyrics as well as Spotify, Bandcamp, etc:
> 
> 1\. “Tales to Be Told”, used as an introduction to some live shows, sung by Jonathan “Jonny” Sims aka Jonny d’Ville aka Doesn’t Understand Fictional Naming. Goes to the tune of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” aka “The Ants Go Marching One By One”.
> 
> 2\. “No Happy Ending”, part of “Once Upon a Time (In Space)”, this verse sung by Jessica Law, aka the Toy Soldier, who plays General Snow White in this particular song. Nikola Orsinov in TMA. The Toy Soldier uses it/its, while the others listed go by she/her. Does indeed go to the tune of the Tetris theme, or more accurately the folk song that theme is based on. 
> 
> 3\. The “Tim Goes Crazy” segment of “Gunpowder Tim vs. the Moon Kaiser”, from the album “Tales to Be Told”. Predominantly sung by Tim Ledsam, aka Gunpowder Tim, aka Jordan Kennedy in TMA. He/him across the board, though he plays a character who uses she/her in a different album. Goes to the tune of “Battle Hymn of the Republic”.
> 
> 4\. “Underworld Blues” from “Ulysses Dies at Dawn”, led by Frank Voss vs. Ashes O’Reilly aka Basira Hussain in TMA. Note that Frank and Ashes both go by they/them rather than Basira's she/her.
> 
> 5\. “Elysian Fields” from “Ulysses Dies at Dawn”, also sung by Jonny d’Ville in the persona of Ulysses (most of Jonny’s characters use he/him, but this one is canonically referred to by they/them pronouns). 
> 
> Got all that? Good. Lol. I've only listened to three albums so far, but I couldn't bear to wait before writing this. Thanks for reading! Would love to know what you think of this weird little concept.


End file.
